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The Keep It Green coalition sent a letter Wednesday urging Corzine to enact a water use surcharge or other tax to permanently fund open space and historic preservation.

Voters approved an emergency one-year bond measure last year to resuscitate the Garden State Preservation Trust, which had run out of money. However, that $200 million in emergency funds has all been allocated toward land buys in New Jersey, leaving no money for new projects.

Corzine promised when he signed the budget in June that he would address long-term funding for open space this fall. That was before the economy faltered.

The activists insist that investing in open space makes good financial sense, even when the economy is sputtering.